PH

Question
I bought an established tank, the ph was fine untill the first water change. I work at a pet store and my boss said to use a Balance block but that didnt work and now the ph has dropped to next to nothing. Ive already lost a shrimp and my mushrooms and aneomenes dont look very good.  I think it may be our city water as my freshwater tanks have always had a ph problem. I desperately need help I dont want to loose all these guys.

Answer
Hi Deb,

Regarding your city water, you won't want to use this water for your regular scheduled water changes, unless it's first being filtered through a good Reverse Osmosis/Deionizer Unit. If you don't have a good RO/DI tap water filter then make sure to purchase quality water from your local fish store.

A couple other things that will help with pH control include the following below:

If you don't have a quality protein skimmer, adding one will help; because protein skimmers remove D.O.C. (Dissolved Organic Carbons/Compounds, including raw fish waste and other nutrients in the water before it has a chance to break down and become more acidic, which acidity ultimately affects pH by drastically lowering it.

Keep your calcium at proper levels; by maintaining the proper amount of calcium helps to properly and naturally buffer aquarium water, which helps keep a more stable and constant pH. Calcium can be added to an aquarium in many different ways/forms, including: liquid doses, a calcium reactor, and by adding calcium based substrates to your aquarium like CaribSea Aragonite.

My last recommendation is to occasionally add a good beneficial bacteria to your aquarium every now and then; at least every few months. This helps to nurture and maintain your biological filtration. You always want an extremely high count of beneficial bacteria, because these organisms will quickly eat nutrients in the water column, ultimately helping to keep the aquarium water more stable. Beneficial bacteria will also help to keep algae from over-growing and getting out of hand. A couple good beneficial saltwater bacteria's include the following below:

http://www.ocreef.com/brightwell_aquatics_microbacter7?category_id=4956

http://www.ocreef.com/aquabella_saltwater_aquarium_water_treatment_system?catego...

Thanks for the question. I wish you luck with all your saltwater aquarium endeavors.

Regards,
Dave